{"id":38996,"date":"2021-10-28T15:34:25","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T04:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=204266"},"modified":"2021-10-28T05:46:36","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T05:46:36","slug":"apple-music-spatial-audio-eric-j-dubowsky","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/apple-music-spatial-audio-eric-j-dubowsky\/","title":{"rendered":"How Apple\u2019s New Spatial Audio Function Is Changing The Way We Experience And Respond To Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Apple
Edit: Kimberlee Kessler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Goosebumps. I distinctly remember the moment the base of Disclosure\u2019s hit track \u201cLatch\u201d thumped over the airwaves at a Sam Smith concert in 2018. The air was hot and sticky, and the floor was vibrating. Speakers encapsulated the stadium and rained sound upon attendees. Despite my very best efforts to immortalize these moments in a camera roll \u2013 of which I still have saved today \u2013 it could never quite capture the feeling of a live experience. Because we don\u2019t just listen<\/em> to great music, we feel<\/em>\u00a0it.<\/p>\n

When the pandemic shuttered music venues across the world, we weren\u2019t only deprived from physical touch, we were deprived of immersive sound. In June, Apple Music introduced a remedy for this: Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spatial Audio, which can be discovered on Apple Music<\/a>, is quite simple in theory. It places the listener in the middle of sound so unlike stereo earphones and headphones \u2013 where music is coming at you from the front \u2013 Spatial Audio sounds like it is coming from all around you.<\/p>\n

\"Apple
Credit: Apple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grammy and ARIA award-winning sound engineer Eric J Dubowsky, describes the technology as the \u201cfuture\u201d of music.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are just scratching the surface of what\u2019s possible,\u201d the producer told GRAZIA. \u201cThat\u2019s the thing I love about this sort of new audio, that we\u2019re always trying to push into new territory with sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dubowsky is a New York City native who upon travelling to Australia, quickly became one of the industry\u2019s most prominent music geniuses. His (Grammy winning) discography includes music from the likes of Flume, Chet Faker, Tove Lo<\/a> and Kylie Minogue. From his past experiences, you could say he was destined to lead the future of electronic music.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Syracuse University, Dubowsky worked as both a musician and an engineer in New York, most notably working alongside Atlantic Records legend Arif Mardin (responsible for music from Aretha Franklin, David Bowie and the BeeGees) at Greene St. Recording. The studio is considered one of the early homes of hip-hop and crafted records for the likes of Run DMC and Pete Rock.<\/p>\n

\"Eric
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 28: Music producer Eric J Dubowsky attends the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Steve Granitz\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It feels like a full circle moment given the BeeGees hit track \u201cStayin\u2019 Alive\u201d has recently been remixed using Apple\u2019s Spatial Audio technology. Similarly, the likes of Jackson 5, The Beatles and the late Amy Winehouse have all received the same treatment. For a nostalgia-obsessed Generation Z, it creates the illusion of being on stage with the artist as Winehouse belts out \u201cRehab\u201d; the trumpet blasting from behind, the drums feel like they\u2019re being played from the right and the woman herself is right in front.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re experiencing the song in a more profound way where you get that sense of being immersed in the music,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a regular stereo experience, you don\u2019t have the height. With Apple\u2019s Spatial Audio you can place sound above you which is totally new. Have you ever had ceiling speakers before?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We attend live music to feel connected with the artist and their emotions. While the singer may not be standing in front of us at this moment, the same could be said of that connectedness<\/em> when you listen to immersive audio.<\/p>\n

Dubowsky suggests thinking of the technology as surround sound, like you experience in a cinema, but one that is at your fingertips and on demand. Olivia Rodrigo\u2019s debut album \u201cSOUR\u201d is one of the early bodies of music to be released in Spatial Audio and will likely go down in history as the first of its kind.<\/p>\n